Mission Briefs
by pookakitten
Summary: Drabbles mostly due to the ME Challenge LJ group.  I've started posting groups of new drabbles in one chapter.  Drabbles with Mass Effect 3 spoilers will have their own chapter with the presence of spoilers noted in the chapter and the chapter title.
1. Dirty Jobs

Disclaimer: Standard drill: I don't own Mass Effect.

A/N: Blame waiting4morning for this one. Reading her story "Shore Leave" and the drabble about Mordin dared me to write this. Apologies to Mike Rowe for the title.

**Prompt: the whole crew is kidnapped by the collectors but someone needs to clean the toilets and cook.**

Joker heard the sound of approaching footsteps. "Can't you read the sign? Bathroom's closed for cleaning," he irately called out.

He looked up at the chuckle behind him. Commander Shepard towered over him, dressed in a green and black version of the overalls so common with the merchant marine. The toilet brush hovered in the air, forgotten. "I guess EDI really does like the sight of humans on their knees."

"Commander, you heard that?"

"Of course."

"Damn."


	2. Many Moons

**Prompt: Many moons**

"Kaidan, I wish you had a chance to meet Thane. Thanks for coming to Kahje with me for your leave."

He nodded and put an arm around her. "So do I. Thane sounds like he was a good man. It's the least I can do to thank him for ... everything he did."

She pointed up at the sky, at the many moons of Kahje. "See that? Jack's idea of a good time was to vandalize the hanar's favorite moon. The woman doesn't think small."

"No ma'am, she doesn't." 


	3. Join the marines

Prompt: Join the marines. Discover new alien creatures. Eat them.

"Or I'll eat you."

Shepard looked at Wrex in horror as he threatened the mercs in the Synthetic Insights office.

Ashley quipped. "The Alliance should use that to recruit the foodies. 'Join the marines. Discover new alien creatures. Eat them.' So Wrex how do pyjaks taste?"

"A little stringy." The mercs looked from face to face, dropped their guns and ran.


	4. From The Other Side

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. Now that that's out of the way, on to the story.

Author's notes:  
* Inspired by the me-challenge community's official challenge #30 about civilians  
* I took liberty with Ashley's backstory by having her grow up on Shanxi. Her having an accent seemed the most reasonable way to have Delan suspect she may be related to _those_ Williams.

###

I stared into my cup of coffee, contemplating the colony's newest resident.

"Credit for your thoughts, Delan." Lilith's voice startled me from my thoughts.

"Just thinking about that soldier. The Alliance had no business sending her here."

"They're just trying to help, Delan. They don't want to lose another human colony."

I shook my head. "They're just painting a giant target on our back with those defense towers. They may protect Discovery, but what about the other towns? Enterprise, Endeavor, Challenger—they're sitting ducks. No Lilith, this is just a publicity stunt for them."

"Aren't you being a bit cynical?"

"You're too trusting. They send one soldier. I've watched her and it seems she doesn't know her ass from her elbow when it comes to electronics. She tries to fix the targeting systems and I have to spend the rest of the day to put it back where it was. She can make any shot she wants from 300 paces, but that won't help us." I shook my head. "If she's related to who I think she is, more proof she's a screw-up."

"What do you mean, who she's related to?"

"It was the accent that tipped me off. Capital district of Shanxi with the last name Williams. Who does that bring to mind?"

The dark haired woman took a bite of her bagel. "Williams? Shanxi? I don't know."

"General Williams. He surrendered Shanxi to the turians. He got my older brother killed, cleaning up that mess. She'll sell us out the first time things become difficult."

"How can you even be sure she's related to him? Williams is a fairly common last name."

I shrugged. "I don't believe in coincidences. Never have. Therefore she has to be related to him."

Lilith shook her head, exasperated. "That makes no sense." She stood and gathered her things. "I have to get going."

"See you tomorrow, Lilith."


	5. You Did What You Had To

Prompt: You did what you had to

I listened to the bustle of Cerberus operatives in the base's command center. Tali waited nearby, leaving me to my thoughts. I left the command center and she fell in behind me without a word.

I retraced our steps through the base. I stopped at each of the markers someone from Cerberus left, mouthing the names on the placards. Jack. Thane Krios. Garrus Vakarian. Miranda must have told them where to put the memorials.

Eventually we reached the platform where we faced the Reaper embryo. I leaned over the edge, reliving the moment when Samara's hand slipped from my own. Looking down, I expected to see her body, crumpled but all I saw was nothing.

"Tali, did I do the right thing, keeping this place?"

The quarian did her version of a shrug. "You did what you had to. We need every advantage we can find, even if it's working with Cerberus."


	6. Urz follows Shepard home

Prompt: Urz follows Shepard home

Shepard pulled her belt off her waist and attached it to the varren's neck as a makeshift collar and leash. She looked at both members of her ground team, spearing them against the comm room's walls. "Whose bright idea was this? Mordin?"

The hyperactive scientist shook his head. "No, no. though interested in varren skin coloration. A new breed?"

"Grunt?"

"My battlemaster needed a worthy companion," the krogan replied. "Not those fish. They are not even a worthy snack." Shepard speared him with a sharp look. "Clan Leader Urdnot gave me his permission."

She shook her head in exasperation. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"


	7. Krogan Don't Get Tummyaches

Prompt: Krogan don't get tummy aches

Grunt eyed the food on Garrus' plate covetously. It looked different and interesting and he was tired of bland, human military rations. One meaty hand swiped the plate.

The turian looked over at the cook and asked, "Do you want to tell Dr. Chakwas or should I?"

Rupert muttered and headed to the medical bay. "Not my job to deal with sick krogan. Way above my pay grade."

Garrus turned to "Grunt, that'll give you a stomachache," the turian warned.

The krogan shook his head. "I. Am. Krogan. We do not get sick."

"That's what you said on Omega. I was practically carrying you when we got to Mordin's clinic."

"Did not. Anyway, Tank Mother said to eat and become strong."

"Did the tank mother tell you turian food makes you sick?"

"Yes. But. I. Am. Krogan!"

Garrus shook his head and warned the approaching doctor. "Krogan don't get sick. I'll go warn Shepard."


	8. How Did You Know?

**Prompt: How did you know?**

###

For it being just before shift change, the _Normandy's_ mess hall was suspiciously empty. Usually Adams was at the other side of the table reading the overnight status reports before going on duty, while LaRoche and Singer discussed the latest book they were reading. It was too quiet.

Shepard looked up from her morning coffee at the sound of approaching footsteps. A large number of footsteps. Most of the crew was following Joker, everyone's favorite cripple and Kaidan was carrying a small cake. A small cake with a lit candle. Much to her horror, the crew started singing. Loudly. Joker couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.

"How did you know it's my birthday?"

"On your personnel jacket, Shepard. Now blow out your candle and make a wish." Kaidan put the cake down in front of her.

She drew in a breath and blew out the candle. _I hope no videos of this leave the ship_, she wished as the candle guttered out. The crew gave a cheer.


	9. Left Behind

Prompt: Left Behind

Ashley replayed her final words to Shepard on Horizon, days after she left the planet. The smell of charred Collector still lingered in Ashley's nose. She told herself and her former CO that "she's always an Alliance soldier, beginning middle and end."

Yet watching the familiar figure radio Joker, she felt she was the one being left behind in the press of galactic events. A Williams has no business dealing with Cerberus, she reminded herself while wishing she took him up on his offer.


	10. Normandy book club

Prompt: Normandy book club

###

"Alenko, why did you drag me to this? I've got better ways to spend my time than discuss dusty old books."

"And you don't owe me for watching those old movies with you? Some of them bordered on pornographic." The dark haired lieutenant shook his head. "Some of them crossed that line into something else. A few made Fornax seem tame."

"You just don't know quality when you see it." The pilot scowled. "Still, books?"

"Could be worse-it could be an all elcor production of _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead_. If so, we'd be here until our next deployment." Alenko smiled. "Anyway, Williams is leading the discussion of-"

Joker cut him off. "I need you there to make me look good. Now hurry up."


	11. I Hate Doctors

**Prompt: I hate doctors**

Great, another new crew. Just effing wonderful. More explanations, more disbelieving looks, more to prove. A new med-bay to count _things_ in. Think the doctor's assistants will play I Spy? If I look at my watch, I can say I see better ways to spend my time, right? That's a valid answer.

It's only this ship that makes this deployment worth it. Prototype. _I'm_ the one writing the manual for the pilots. Captain Anderson knows he can't find a better pilot in the Alliance. Hell, anywhere in Citadel Space or outside it. He just has to ignore the fact I spend most of my free time in the med-bay. Wonder how that fact looks on the pilot's manual for this new class of frigate.

Damn, I hate doctors.


	12. Nightmare Too Weird to Talk About

**Prompt: A Nightmare Too Weird to Talk About**

Crewman Meding was sitting in the one of the fore sensor analysis stations, half listening to conversations around her.

"Can you believe it? There's supposedly a green asari on Nos Astra. That's not natural." Crewman Hawthorne offered to the crewmen on deck.

Another crewman countered, "That's nothing. Tali told Ken and Gabby in engineering about a volus hopped up on red sand. Called himself a biotic god. The commander tapped him and he started rolling like that Violet girl in that old twentieth century movie Joker had us watch."

"Don't blame me for that one. Garrus asked about the fascination human women have with chocolate and I thought it was safer than showing him extranet fetish sites." The pilot paused for a moment before muttering, "That was more Kaidan's thing, or so I heard from Ash."

Crewman Patel shook his head. "That's how Rolston got his wife pregnant. Lots of chocolate syrup."

"Kaidan, where have I heard that name before, Joker?" Hawthorne answered his question a moment later. "That soldier with the commander during the battle of the Citadel, right? The biotic. Rumor has it he and the commander had a thing. Come to think of it, I've always wondered if biotics can do anything special in bed. Think the commander would know?"

A blue holographic sphere appeared next to Joker's station. "This conversation is inappropriate for the bridge." The AI's voice came out of the speakers at every station.

Meding thought she could hear Joker grinning as he answered the AI, "Yes, mom." She shook her head. No one would believe her if she dreamed tonight of a rotund volus covering a green asari with chocolate syrup while the commander and Kaidan Alenko consulted _The Joy of Sex_ about biotics in bed.


	13. Liara

**Prompt: Liara**

The other children gathered around her, pointing and laughing. "Liara is a pure blood," they chanted over and over. The oldest pushed her and the toddler fell to the ground and started bawling.

She sniffled, "am not."

"Are too!" the other children chorused.

"Am not!"

The oldest asked, "Then what is your mother's mate?"

She looked at the child in confusion. "My mother has no mate."

"See? She knows she did something wrong."

"Did not!"

That was when Liara began to pretend her other parent was an alien. Some days it was a krogan, other days a salarian, and occasionally she hoped her mother's mate was a quarian. Anything but another asari.


	14. Miranda and Jacob discuss children

**Prompt: Shepard and a LI discuss children**

Not Shepard and LI, but hey, you go where the inspiration takes you, right?

###

Jacob rolled onto the side, supporting his head with one hand, and watched the woman sleeping next to him. He traced the dried tear tracks with one finger. She stirred and looked at him with sleepy eyes. "Jacob?"

_I can be the man she deserves. I have to be._ "Morning, Miranda."

"You're still here?"

"Where else would I be? You really thought I would leave over that? You're not the only woman who can't have children. You won't be the last." His finger on her lips forestalled her protests. "Plenty of people are happy without children. If you really want them, there are other options. Adoption, for one. We can be foster parents. Surrogacy. I know Oriana would do anything for you. Miranda, we'll do whatever you want and I'm not going anywhere."


	15. It's too hot

**Prompt: It's too hot**

Gabby groaned as the sweat rolled down her neck, soaking into her shirt. She wasn't sure how this could get worse. The heat sinks were nearing danger levels but they couldn't disengage stealth systems until the Commander gave the say-so. Still, not enough to make her want to walk into a Noveria blizzard naked.

She looked over her shoulder at the asari behind her. Her eyes were black as space and Gabby thought she could feel the absent rachni queen's gaze on her. _This_ was why she was dripping wet. The rachni queen was coming to stay on the _Normandy_ and it was her job to convert Grunt's cargo bay for her use. So she was turning the place into a hot house for the insect.

At least this is for a quality rachni, not one of those tiny workers that exploded. She heard the rumors about those.


	16. Pregnancy Scare

**Prompt: Pregnancy Scare**

I looked at Dr. Chakwas incredulously. "Pregnant? That can't be. I can't be pregnant."

She put the test results on the screen in front of me. "It says right here you are." She was right. It said _pregnancy - positive._

"Still, that can't be. It's impossible. Even Grunt knows I lack the plumbing for that." After a moment's thought, I added, "at least I hope he does."

The doctor shook her head. "I thought so myself so I reran the blood sample. Still came up positive."

"Show me the sample." She handed me a plastic vial with a printed label. She was right, it had my name on it and I had just given her a sample for my physical. "Wait a minute... why would you even look for that in my blood? Might as well check Jack for testicular cancer while you're at it."

She shrugged. "It's part of the standard battery. Just like you soldiers carried around weapons you weren't certified on."

I looked down at the vial in my hands and picked at the label. It started peeling off, revealing another label, the name presumably female. I finished peeling it off and showed it to the doctor. "I guess congratulations are in order for Miranda."


	17. Feron and Liara at the Base

Prompt: Feron and Liara at the Base

The base VI chirped at her and turned on the room's lights. She gestured for the white globe to speak.

"Liara, Feron is showing signs of distress." They had just updated its software to recognize individuals thanks to Tali and the _Normandy's_ AI. She pulled on a robe and hurried to the drell's quarters.

He was thrashing, tangled in the covers. His eyes were open and he was whimpering. "Feron, it's me, Liara." She kept her distance on the advice of the drell on Shepard's crew. He recommended simply talking to Feron to help him through the attacks. "The VI found more footage of the human Ambassador Udina, this time being slapped by a hanar's tentacles."

Feron stilled and looked at her. "What was that?"

"Udina apparently provoked someone else. This time it was a hanar. I wonder what he did this time. Want to take a bet next time he's punched by a asari?"

"No, it'll be the turian Councilor."

"You're on." She smiled and added, "Would you like me to stay, Feron?" He nodded and she slipped into the bed next to him.


	18. Save the Last Dance for Me

Prompt: Save the Last Dance for Me

Kaidan watched his new wife dance with Admiral Hackett while he danced with his five year old niece, the girl's feet on top of his. It had been a parade of dancers in front of him. They were all friends and family-she had won that fight with the PR people. So instead of politicians, the guests consisted of his family and people they had served with. As a result, there was a surplus of Alliance Blues.

He smiled down at the girl before passing her off to his brother. He nursed a drink as he watched her, now dancing with Captain Anderson, their old CO. She was radiant in a traditional wedding dress. He would have thought she would want to be married in her Blues, but she surprised him, not for the first time.

The MC's words over the loudspeaker broke him out of his thoughts. "This is the last dance. I repeat, last dance."

Kaidan retrieved his new wife from Anderson and pulled her into his arms as the music started to play. "Whose idea was it to play this song?" he asked.

She laughed. "Your uncle's, though he said it'd work better at the beginning of the reception." She smiled. "So the other men wouldn't get ideas." She rested her head against his as they danced.

After a verse, the song became familiar from his childhood. He sang softly into her ear. "_Baby, don't you know \ I love you so \ Can't you feel it when we touch \ I will never, never let you go \ I love you oh, so much._"

She whispered the chorus to him. "_'Cause don't forget who's taking you home \ And in whose arm's you're gonna be \ So, darlin', save the last dance for me._"

He grinned at her. "I'll save my last dance for you if you save your last dance for me. Deal?"

"Deal."


	19. I look for you in everyone

Prompt: I look for you in everyone

Liara looked out over the trading floor from her office. Her eyes picked out the occasional human surrounded by a sea of asari. It wasn't easier on Illium where most people were asari and humans were a rarity.

She could usually tell male humans from female and skin pigmentation and hair color could be used to tell them apart. Still, she had trouble identifying individuals. So whenever she saw a human that looked vaguely like Shepard, for a moment she thought the dead walked among the living again.


	20. Old man look at my life

Prompt: Old man, look at my life, I'm a lot like you were

Shepard stared across the table at the man who shared half his genes. He still couldn't explain why he agreed to let the man meet him. The gene prints matched, but he wasn't his _father._ No, this man left his mother pregnant, stranded on some rinky dink colony called Mindoir. He wasn't the one who raised him, who he watched die as the batarians attacked the only home he knew.

When he enlisted, Shepard had them run genetic scan, to try and find his real father. Reading the files, he wished he never had. His birth father was a failure, serving time in prison for murder. Yet when he asked to meet Shepard, after Torfan, Shepard visited the prison.

Shepard rose from the table. "You think I'm a lot like you, a murderer." He shrugged. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." _A small voice whispered to him, "that's why you're such a good soldier."_


	21. Silver

Prompt: Silver

He met them at the airlock, her lieutenant and two MPs. She didn't expect the audience, nor the dress blues. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

The MPs yanked her arms behind her back and secured them in cuffs. He read from a data pad. "Lt. Commander Ivana Shepard, you are hereby placed under arrest for the murder of 300,000 batarian citizens."

"I had no choice! It was that or have the Reapers here right now!" She struggled against the MPs. "You know me, Kaidan. You promised me you would follow me anywhere." Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the pin on his collar. "That's how they bought you. Made you a Spectre. Your thirty pieces of silver. It wasn't enough to be my second in command? Was the sex so bad you believe these trumped up charges."

He gave the MPs a signal and she slumped into their hands, unconscious."You never could do things the easy way, could you?"


	22. I'm yours one more day

Prompt: I'm Yours, One More Day

He hated Omega, everything it stood for, yet he was there, waiting for her. When he saw on the news that the Omega 4 relay had been opened, he knew it was her. She was the only person he knew with that particular variety of insanity. It was why he fell in love with her. With her pilot, he thought she could pull it off, whatever was waiting for her on the other side of the relay.

He haunted the docks where rumor said the _Normandy_ docked when she was in port. It was said the ship was here just before he arrived, just before the relay opened. He tried to wait patiently for the ship's return, but he swore that he'd take his chances in the relay if he had to another day.

A commotion broke him out of his thoughts. The talk around him was that the Omega 4 relay had opened again. Before he realized it, he was at the docking bay, waiting. When the _Normandy_ limped into port, he feared for the worst. The ship showed obvious signs of combat.

Between one breath and the next, she was there, standing in front of him. He enclosed her in a tight hug, sweeping her off her feet. The walls spun around them as he twirled her around. He put her down and looked into her eyes. "I'm yours, Shepard."

She nodded slowly before replying, "And I'm yours, Kaidan."

He felt a grin cover his face with her words. "And I'm not going anywhere this time."


	23. Mordin's side project

**Prompt: Mordin's side project**

Joker looked at the salarian, dumbfounded. "You what?"

"Have cure for Vrolik Syndrome. Probably."

"Probably? What do you mean, probably?"

"Previous iterations had flaws - liver failure, kidney failure, heart failure. But simulations show promise."

"Promise, Mordin? No real tests? Just simulations?"

"Not yet. Wanted to tell you good news."

The pilot shrugged. "I've heard that so many times in my life, it's not funny. I'll believe it when I see it."

"Understandable."

"And let me get this straight, you did this during your free time?"

Mordin nodded with his usual energy. "More useful than crew performance of _The Spectre's Not for Burning._"


	24. Prompts 1  No ME3 Spoilers

Note: I decided to post batches of prompts at once in one chapter. The number of files on my computer was getting quite large when giving each prompt its own chapter.

These prompt fills do not have spoilers for Mass Effect 3. I'll keep the spoiler prompt fills separate from the non-spoiler prompt fills and note the presence of spoilers in the chapter title.

* * *

**Prompt: What if I never wanted to be a hero?**

She looked at the news headline scrolling across the bottom of the vid screen. "Hero Biotic Soldier Saves Colony Single Handedly." A moment later, she heard her voice as she answered the reporter, what seemed like a lifetime ago. She could remember drowning in painkillers for that interview. She sounded hollow, unaccustomed to hearing her voice from outside her head. A moment later, she heard the reporter sign off. "That was Operation Chief Dana Shepard, already being called the Hero of Elysium and I'm Emily Wong for Elysium News."

She winced as she tried moving, tried to leave but the painkillers had worn off and the new lacerations were pulling against the medigel. She settled back into the hospital bed. _Now I'm some kind of biotic hero. They had to make an issue out of that. "Shepard, it's a good PR opportunity for biotics," they told me. But no one asked if I wanted to be a hero._

* * *

**Prompt: Kaidan, children**

Kaidan and his wife in chairs too small for them, ready to face the onslaught of questions from the class of ten year olds. Their daughter sat in the front row, looking smug. No one else had such well known parents, after all.

"Are you really Major Shepard?" She laughed and nodded. "Last time I checked, though now I go by Major Indira Shepard-Alenko and he's Major Kaidan Alenko-Shepard." She gestured at Kaidan.

"Doesn't that get confusing?" a boy in the back asked. Kaidan shook his head. "When we're on duty, we use just our unmarried name, so I'm Alenko and she's Shepard."

The girl in the desk next to their daughter had a question. "But you can't be married-I don't see a ring." _Kaidan remembered the ceremony-a simple one with a hanar judge and the subsequent visit to the tattoo parlor. When he proposed, her answer was "what the hell. We'll get bigger quarters that way." It wasn't exactly the answer he expected, but it _was_ a yes of sorts._

"We chose to do something else." He pulled up his sleeve to show an alien script in black. The characters were surrounded by a blue glow. "It's quarian for 'my beloved.' It's in the dialect a friend who was no longer with us used. It's to remember her."

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar'Rayya? I learned about her in history class last year." At Indira's nod, the child continued. "She died in the final fighting after making peace with the geth."

Kaidan smiled and settled in to answer their questions. When the Reapers attacked during her trial, he never thought he'd see a day like this where the biggest worry he had was keeping on top of the paperwork.

* * *

**Prompt: Let it all burn**

She listened to the Illusive Man make his pitch to save the Collector base, but it fell on deaf ears. She remembered the sight of the crew being turned into a liquid and Mordin's last words on the comm. "Hold the line." Yes, I have to hold the line.

"Shepard, let it all burn. We owe him nothing. Nothing."

"Miranda, this is an order."

"Consider this my resignation."

* * *

**Prompt: Faith**

She was about to head into near certain death. She only hoped it was fast-the stories only said ships didn't come back from the Omega 4 relay, not how quickly they died.

She looked down at the picture in her hands. Kaidan Alenko's face looked out at her. He had faith in her, enough to steal the _Normandy_ to go to Ilos. He trusted she would not fail. No matter the hard words said on Horizon, she trusted he had faith in her; that she would succeed against all odds.

She put the picture back on her desk. Time to prepare for the battle at hand. That was all that mattered at this time. Time to prove Kaidan's faith in her was merited.

* * *

**Prompt: Through seasons and centuries**

Liara stepped off the transport and the air of Mindoir filled her lungs. She made a pilgrimage to her friends' resting places every decade, and the trip got longer each time.

First it was Feron, left to sink to the depths of Kahje. He never fully recovered from the torture at the claws of the Shadow Broker. Ashley died before that, on Virmire, she reminded herself.

Next was Garrus Vakarian-he had returned to C-SEC at Shepard's insistance and had died protecting a volus child. He was buried on Palaven, but his heart was on the Citadel.

All of her friends had fallen by the wayside as the years went by-Tali without her suit on the quarian homeworld, surrounded by her children. Wrex died on Tuchanka, the krogan race changed through his actions. All of them gone.

And on Mindoir, the architect of that part of her life rested, next to her husband. That was the worst one, seeing two so strong and larger than life brought low by old age. One of their descendants had always met her at the station, but now she was a legend-she couldn't possibly be _that_ Liara, after all.

It was times like this she hated being asari, outliving almost everyone else.

* * *

**Prompt: Sugar cubes**

Note: It crept into my headcanon that Kaidan was a horse rider.

He rested his back against the paddock's wall and fished some sugar cubes out of his pocket. Strawberry always listened to him, and asked for nothing more than an apple or other treat. Unlike everyone else since leaving Brain Camp, she didn't look at him and see a monster.

She dropped her head and delicately took the sugar cubes. She had more white than he remembered. "What else could I do? Let him get away with hurting her?" The horse looked at him, saying nothing. She never wanted to know how it made him feel like all the doctors, his parents and the Conatix people. So she was the only one he told. "I had to put down that rabid dog. That's what you do. I never thought he'd actually die. And the worst part? She hates me. Everyone does." Strawberry snuffled his hair. "Everyone except you."

* * *

**Prompt: Casual Friday**

Stepping onto the CIC deck, Shepard heard whispers, all repeating the name Joker. Something seemed off. It took her a moment to realize the crew were all wearing civvies instead of the usual Cerberus jumpsuits. Still, hearing Joker's name couldn't be good. This was probably his idea, after all.

She stalked to the cockpit. Conversations fell silent. When she reached his chair, she barked, "What is going on Joker?"

His chair turned, revealing Joker's scarred body, covered only by a pair of briefs. "Casual Friday."

"But it's Thursday."

"No, it's Friday. You must have lost a day somewhere, Commander."

EDI piped in. "Jeff is correct. By the Gregorian calendar, today is Friday."

"And why this ... apparel?"

"Casual Friday," he repeated.

"And that explains this?" She gestured to his body, carefully averting her eyes.

"Well, you _did_ say we are on a civilian ship without a dress code."

"So I brought this on myself?"

"You said before that you were lucky I was wearing pants."

"What does that have to do with Friday?"

"In civilian places of business, employees are often allowed to 'dress down' on Fridays," EDI explained.

Shepard shook her head and headed back towards the elevator, muttering to herself about seeing Miranda and dress codes.

* * *

**Prompt: Hollow**

She cycled through the memories in Keiji's greybox. Their first meeting. The first time they went to bed together. One of many arguments. Their last touch. It was so odd seeing herself through his eyes, his emotions layered over her own recollections.

The sound of Shepard's voice broke through the past Kasumi was living in. Powering down the greybox and looking at the other woman, Kasumi felt hollow. Keiji really was dead.

* * *

**Prompt: Grocery shopping in space**

Shepard frowned, looking at the shop's terminal like she had never seen one before. How was she supposed to pick out groceries from this thing? It felt wrong. You ordered freeze dried food and rations from a terminal. Not real food. Gardner was crazy to send her here. He must have been born in space, like Joker, since being born on a planet like Mindoir meant she picked out her food in person.

She looked at the data pad in her hand and started keying in her order.


	25. Prompts 1  ME3 Spoilers

Note: These prompt fills have spoilers for Mass Effect 3. I'll keep them separate from the non-spoiler prompt fills and note the presence of spoilers in the chapter title.

* * *

**Prompt: Training (ME3 demo spoilers)**

Shepard followed Kaidan down the hall to a room labeled "R&D Storage." He put his hand on the reader and the door opened. She tilted her head quizzically and he explained, "Something to do after Horizon. Had to keep busy, you know."

She nodded and eyed the various boxes covetously. He rummaged in a cabinet and brought out a small box and handed it to her. Inside was what appeared to be an omni-tool. "What's this?"

"The latest and greatest. There's only a couple prototypes made so far. You have one in your hands, and I have another." He keyed in a command to his omni-tool and along with the standard interface it had a sword like extension. "The eggheads call it an omni-blade. Based on the same tech as my tactical shield." His omni-blade disappeared and he pulled out the piece of tech from the box and attached it to her wrist. It fit against her omni-tool like an engagement and a wedding ring on a woman's finger. "Hope you like it."

"You know just what every woman wants, don't you?"

"Every woman by the name of Shepard, at least."

* * *

**Prompt: RTFM, Ma'am (ME3 demo Spoilers)**

Her hand rested on one of Kaidan's, his other one flicking through the new toy's configuration screens on her omni-tool. As soon as he showed her this omni-blade, she wanted to try it out herself. She looked around the room, at the boxes stored there from the R&D folks and felt like a kid in a toy store. What other fun things were lurking around her?

He released her arm and it dropping to her side pulled her back to reality. She looked over at him and he was grinning. "Kid in a candy store?"

She nodded. "Now show me how to use this, soldier."

He made a fist and punched, the orange omni-blade covering his hand. "There's different motions available to trigger it. I chose one that isn't already taken by my biotic mnemonics. I did the same with yours, unless you picked up something new when I wasn't looking. I suggested to the eggheads to bring a vanguard biotic onto the team to investigate integrating it with biotics, but us biotics are thin on the ground..."

While he was talking, she had brought up the configuration menus up, trying to find the different trigger options. No such luck. She punched her right hand into her left in frustration. The orange omniblade appeared around her arm. "Damn, that's going to bruise, Kaidan."

He laughed. "Trying to change things already? RTFM, ma'am."

"No can do, Alenko. The manual is probably half written, and written badly."


	26. Prompts 2  No ME3 Spoilers

Note: These prompt fills do not have spoilers for Mass Effect 3. I'll keep the spoiler prompt fills separate from the non-spoiler prompt fills and note the presence of spoilers in the chapter title.

**Prompt: Reflection**

It was the first chance she had to look in a mirror since waking up again, and the privacy to use it. She slowly pulled the armor off her aching body, carefully putting it away. When she was down to the under armor, she dimmed the lights and stood in front of the mirror.

She took off each piece and watched the woman in the mirror. The new scars glowed eerily in the dim lighting. She traced the lines, vainly trying to remember where she got them. She taught herself the new paths, while wondering where the expected scars were.

She pulled on a shirt, settled into the bed, and hoped the nightmares would be familiar ones.

**Prompt: Mom was right. Should have brought a sweater.**

Shepard found him as usual after the mission, down by the mess. Their casual debriefs had become a comforting routine. Surprising because most of the time it involved him pulling at the scars he denied having. This one was no different.

"So Kaidan, you have time to talk to your mother?" At his surprised look, she gave him a half smile. "Must mean I'm not keeping you busy enough."

"What?" he stammered.

"On Noveria. You said your mom was right; that you should have brought a sweater."

"Well, she was. Even Tali was cold in her suit."

She gave him a strange look, one he could not quite decode. "What's it like, having a mother?"

"What do you mean? You must have one." Her face crumpled. His brain finally caught up to his mouth. Rumor said she was an orphan. He had stuck his foot in his mouth. What should he say? "I can only tell you about mine. She constantly worries about me. Drives me crazy, but at least she cares."

She nodded slowly, indicating he had said the right thing. His mouth bypassed his brain again and he added, "I'll introduce you, and she can be your mother too. She'd like you." He flushed as he realized what he had implied. His foot was now in his mouth up to the knee.

"I'd like that." She looked around the deck before kissing him. She made a fast retreat, while he stared after her in shock.

**Prompt: There was nothing else to do...**

She handed the Systems Alliance flag to the woman, Ashley's mother. She could see the tears in her eyes and Ashley's sisters were all crying.

"Ashley died to save us, ma'am. I couldn't ask for a braver soldier to serve with." She heard the inadequate words leave her mouth, but there was nothing else to do but say them. Ashley's family deserved to hear them.

**Prompt: Death, death, death, death, lunch**

"Death." Grunt's shotgun turned the vorcha into ash.

"Death." This time it was another vorcha, consumed into a fireball when its flamethrower ignited. "Death, death, death." Several nearby vorcha were caught in the inferno.

A varren ran up to the young krogan. "Lunch." He broke its neck.

"Really Grunt, lunch?"

"Battlemaster, I'm hungry."

**Prompt: do my dirty work**

He was in the mess, eating what he guessed was spaghetti when she sat down next to him and shoved a data pad into his free hand. "What's this, Shepard?"

"My dirty work," she replied with a grin. "I need it back by 1200 hours." Before he could acknowledge the order, she was gone. 

He went back to his food, mechanically eating while he read over the report. Where did she learn how to write? He stumbled over her words, trying to guess what she meant from the mess in front of him. _Rakni qween spoke thru asaree comando too us. Rex said to kill her, Alenko said two wait for Consil. I let kween go._

###

Two hours later, he handed her the data pad with the corrected report. He rubbed his temples while she glanced at the file. He couldn't decide if it had been a joke or if she really was that illiterate.

She nodded to herself and looked at him. "Thanks, Alenko."

**Prompt: Erase**

Note: Referring to events in Mass Effect: Revelation

Jon Grissom opened the message his VI had flagged. He had it set to notify him of events involving his daughter. She graduated the Academy and awarded her commission.

He drafted a message to the Systems Alliance Military Personnel office. Being the first man through a mass relay occasionally had its advantages. The best thing he could do as her father was to erase any relationship between them on paper. It's not like they had any relationship to speak of. Ever since he abandoned her and her mother, he could only watch them from afar.

**Prompt: Exploration**

Her eyes were on the sky as she tagged a gold deposit without thinking. Above her was a greenish dome intersected by a series of rings.

"Are you expecting trouble, ma'am?"

She shook her head. "No, just exploring our universe, Alenko. A hundred years ago, a vista like this could only be seen in the imagination, but now? It's practically business as usual."

"I, uh, never looked at it that way, ma'am."

**Prompt: even when the world went wrong**

Note: Horizon went a bit differently. No calls of traitor, for starters.

Even when the world went wrong, he believed her. Her world was one of terrorists and the end of the world as she knew it, and he believed her. She told him the most outlandish story, that she had been resurrected from the dead, and he believed her. She had never lied to him, after all.

He had stayed with the Alliance, her eyes and ears in the ranks. She asked him to stay with her, but he refused. He had given his word to the Alliance, and would not betray it even if he wanted to. It was one of the many things she loved about him.

So while the world goes wrong around her, she reads his messages to her, and looks at the pictures he sent her. It's her way of preparing for what she'd meet on the other side of the Omega 4 relay. The reason she would find a way to survive. She had a place to go back to, with him.

**Prompt: I will make mistakes**

Shepard fed the baby boy on her breast while his sister slept in her husband's arms. The boy had her red hair while the girl had her dead mother's blond and it was too soon to tell whose eye color they had.

It was times like this she missed her parents most, killed on Mindoir. She couldn't think of any women to fill the role her mother would have held now. Miranda? Jack? Neither was the mother type and to ask Samara would be cruel. Dr. Chakwas had her hands full taking care of Joker and Kaidan's mother died last year. Tali? She was the type, but she just set up house with Kal'Reegar. It wasn't until now, after Sara and Patrick were born that the enormity of it all hit her. She was responsible for these two little people.

"Kaidan, I can't do this. It's too much."

He looked up from the baby, still stroking her hair. "Can't do what, Moira?"

"This." She looked down at the nursing child.

"You're doing it already."

"I'm just doing what the nurses told me to do. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. What if I do something wrong?"

"Don't do it again?"

"Very funny."

He put Sara into her crib and sat down next to her. "You'll make mistakes. I'll make mistakes. That won't change. We'll do fine. I mean, we came out just fine."

"If you say so." She handed him the now sleeping Patrick. "I'm going to catch some shut eye while I can. You should, too."

Kaidan nodded and settled into the chair to sleep.

**Prompt: Back to the Beginning**

It was her first time seeing him since their heated words on Horizon. He was looking even more careworn, if that was possible. It made her realize they had both changed, almost past recognition.

_Maybe the best thing for us is to go back to the beginning._

"Staff Commander Alenko, your record precedes you. I look forward to working with you." She didn't see the embarrassment from him she expected, only mild confusion. He really had changed in the past two years.

"Ma'am?"

"I'm not who I was and you're not who you were. So let's start over, and see what happens."

"I'd like that, Shepard."

**Prompt: Payback time**

Shepard looked around the schematic of the Collector base at her unlikely team. "They took hundreds of thousands of colonists." Conscious of asari, drell, salarian, quarian, turian, krogan and geth eyes on her, she purposefully didn't point out they were _human_ colonists. She would have done the same for any colonists, of any species. She was one, after all.

"They took our crew. They are our friends, our colleagues, our reason to fight. They _are_ alive and it falls to us to rescue them. No one else will." What she didn't say is they might already be dead. In missions like this, morale was everything; all that stood between success and failure. If the crew were dead, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

"Two years ago, they destroyed the _SSV Normandy,_ the pride of the fleet."

"Damn straight, Commander. They killed my baby." Joker eyed EDI's projection warily. "Not that this _Normandy_ isn't also my baby," he backpedaled.

"Most of all, they fucking killed me. I didn't come back from the grave to let that one stand." She met each squad member's eyes, seeing raw determination in each person.

"The Collectors' days are numbered, as are the Reapers'. It's payback time."

**Prompt: She changed my life and I never knew her name**

"The merc bands, they were recruiting to off this Archangel guy. So there I was, in Afterlife waiting in line to join, my new pistol in my hand. So who was waiting in front of me? Some woman with the best armor and weapons I've ever seen. She must have been military. She had two other women. Hottest women I've seen since. One with perfect boobs and ass covered by a catsuit. The other was covered in tats and reeked of violence

"So yeah, there I was waiting in line in front of these smoking women, waiting to join the mercs, when the woman, the military one, pushes me against the wall. I can remember what she said perfectly. 'Kid, get out of here before you get yourself killed.' I argued, but deep down, knew she was right. She had me pinned without even trying.

"So I went home and decided to be like her. She was obviously military, so that probably meant Alliance so I got on the first ship that let me work for passage going to Alliance space and enlisted." The young man looked at his rapt audience and drained his beer. One of the others gestured and the bartender put a new drink in front of him.

"And that, boys, is how a woman changed my life and I never even knew her name."

**Prompt: He's a little loopy. Ma'am.**

Note: Alternate universe

He had slumped into her arms on Horizon, just after that small minded mechanic had walked away. She barely caught him, not expecting him to collapse on her. She replayed the memory, trying to see a clue to the unexpected faint.

The man lying in the hospital bed didn't match her memories of him. This Kaidan looked much older than the one she remembered. Looking at him, for the first time she could see two years had passed. His face had aged at least five, maybe ten years.

Aubrey started when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Dr. Chakwas. "He should be waking up soon."

"Anything I should know, doctor?"

She shook her head. "No, you heard everything from the surgeons earlier. Just to warn you, he's going to be a little loopy. Don't worry, it's just him waking up from anesthesia and the pain meds. Nothing to worry about."

She nodded at the doctor and realized she had taken his hand when it squeezed hers. She looked down at him to hear his slurred, "Ma'am?"

**Prompt: three-four...34? shit i'm getting old**

She spoke softly into her husband's ear, so they wouldn't wake the baby. "Kaidan. I'm thirty four."

"What?" he asked sleepily.

"Three four. Shit, I'm getting old."

He nuzzled her neck. "Shepard, you were dead for two years. I guess you could say you're thirty two."

"But if I do that, sounds like you're robbing the cradle," she teased.

"Three years, or five years, neither is robbing the cradle, and you know it, honey."

"Whatever you say, Kaidan."

**Prompt: Wrex on the beach**

"Wrex on the beach." Ashley's voice clearly came through his private channel. His fingers flew across the display as he initiated another round of engine diagnostics.

"What's that, Chief?"

"Wrex on the beach. I'm going to make my fortune coming up with drink names."

"I thought that's what Alenko wants to do with Shepard. Minus the krogan, of course."

"Wait, what? Where'd you hear that?"

"A little birdy told me."

"By the name of surveillance cams, fly boy?"

He laughed. "You know I'll never reveal my sources. ETA in 5 minutes."

**Prompt: New clothes**

"How about this, Shepard?" The thief pulled a gauzy black dress of a rack in one of the most exclusive stores in the wards.

"I don't wear dresses. How many times have I told you that?"

Kasumi laughed and laid the dress against Shepard, critically eying the combination. "I know he liked the picture of you in the dress you wore on Bekenstein."

"Bekenstein? That was a mission." Shepard paused a moment before the implication of Kasumi's words caught up with her. "How would he have a picture of me in that?"

"Hmmm... this does go well with the scars. Oh, that? I sent it to him. According to my info, he accesses it several times most days."

"He what? No, that's not it. How did you send it to him?"

"It's not hard to find his address. Just needed to look in your account for that. You really should change your password, Shepard. I predict he'd _really_ enjoy seeing you in this. Aren't you planning on paying him a visit?"

"Fine. I'll try it on."

**Prompt: Meet the Family**

She pulled him by one hand out of the shuttle into a milling crowd of quarians. They wove through a rainbow of colored suits to where her name was projected by an omni-tool. _Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. An odd name for a ship. She told him the name was after a human battle several centuries earlier._

Her hand left his as she ran towards a female in a sedate black envirosuit. "Auntie Raan!" The two women embraced while he hung back, nervous.

A moment later she tugged on his hand to bring him closer. "Kal, this is my Auntie Raan. Shala'Raan vas Tonbay"

He nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." _Tali forgot to mention her auntie was one of the Admirals._

"Pleasure's mine. Tali's told me so much about you.

**Prompt: Sick day**

She coughed and returned to her terminal. It was unfair - she was sick and her father insisted her tutors give her _more_ schoolwork. All this when all she wanted to do was sleep. She knew if she tried that, it would make him angry, and that would be worse than anything she could imagine. Miranda had to be the perfect daughter or he would ignore her. Maybe replace her.

She shook her head and settled back to her reading about the different kinds of viruses. Someone's idea of a joke, she was sure.


	27. Prompts 2  ME3 Spoilers

Note: These prompt fills have spoilers for Mass Effect 3. I'll keep them separate from the non-spoiler prompt fills and note the presence of spoilers in the chapter title.

**you don't look like you're living to me **

Kaidan spent every day he could in the courtroom gallery, watching her trial. That was most days - Hackett and Anderson were aware of his ties to her. In addition, he used his status as Spectre to stay.

So he watched her each day, saluted her as she was led into the courtroom, to the disgust of the spectators around him. She would meet his eyes and return the salute, her face stony. Beyond that, no reactions from her, to anything the judge, lawyers or witnesses would say.

Day after day ticked by. He watched the bags under her eyes grow darker every morning. She became gaunter, wasting away. Her biotics reacted less and less to his and he suspected they weren't giving her biotic rations and she was too proud to ask for them. That would be just like her.

One day it changed. The prosecutors called him to testify; their relationship would be announced to the galaxy. As she was marched into the courtroom, he gave her his habitual salute, but this time she looked away, her body radiating defeat. He had never seen her like that, even when they were grounded before Ilos.

Just before he was called to testify, the building shook and sirens blared. He fought his way through the crowd to be at her side. The screen in front of the courtroom showed a familiar sight - a Reaper. This time it wasn't Sovereign attacking the Citadel. He recognized the skyline - London.

He handed her a shotgun and for the first time he saw life in her eyes, energy vibrating through her body. She was alive again. "Time to show the Reapers they messed with the wrong people."


End file.
